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So...Orange Juice isn't What it Seems…

2021-07-02 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Everyday life (also: Health, Science & nature) · mode: Advice & reviews

Hank argues that orange juice from concentrate, though seen as a subpar product, is the best option: after a taste test and a look at packaging, health, flavoring and carbon footprints he finds it equally tasty, healthy and green and much cheaper, and urges viewers not to be shamed into buying the pricier kind.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Three kinds of orange juice, presuppositions about them, and the case for concentrate

  • ★ Hank lists common presuppositions: squeezing oranges is expensive but best, greenest and healthiest; concentrate is cheap and worse; bottled juice is the healthier, greener obvious choice. — 00:00:13
  • ★★★ Hank says concentrate's reputation as a subpar product for people who can't afford better is wrong: if you drink orange juice, which you probably shouldn't, it is equally healthy, tasty and bad for the environment, and much cheaper. — 00:00:32
  • ★★ In a taste test with a Dorito as palate cleanser, Hank finds Simply Orange and concentrate both good; fresh squeezed is delicious, and compared with it the other two taste exactly the same. (playful) — 00:00:54

00:00:56 — Taste test; the environmental and packaging cost of fresh oranges

  • ★★ Hank grants fresh squeezed is the best, but shipping oranges worldwide so they are available year-round in Montana has a huge environmental impact, and packaging is involved too. — 00:01:15 · Montana
  • ★★ Hank cites a study finding that fresh squeezed orange juice required about nine times more cardboard than the equivalent amount of concentrate. — 00:01:36

00:01:40 — No health difference: all orange juice is sugar; misleading labels and taste

  • ★★★ Hank says there are no health differences between the kinds of orange juice: they are all glasses full of sugar, just candy water, a rant he says he won't stop giving. — 00:01:42
  • ★★ The one way fresh squeezed juice is healthier, Hank says, is that being more work and more expensive you consume less of it, the only healthy kind of orange juice. (playful) — 00:01:50
  • ★★ Hank says labels like rich in vitamin C, no added sugar, 100% pure squeezed and not from concentrate make juice seem healthy, especially compared with concentrate. — 00:02:03
  • ★★ Hank finds bottled juice slightly more complex and less tangy, but not because it isn't from concentrate: he thinks makers make it taste better because they earn more on it. (hedged) — 00:02:18
  • ★★★ Hank calls it the big lie that we taste what comes out of the orange: manufacturers want a taste distinct from competitors and identical across bottles and years, which oranges can't give, so they flavor it. — 00:02:33

00:02:39 — Manufacturers flavor juice with orange-derived compounds; bottled and concentrate have equal carbon footprints

  • ★★ Hank explains why the label still says pure orange juice: flavor chemists turn orange rinds and pulp into many flavor compounds, creating the chosen flavor only from chemicals made from oranges. — 00:02:56
  • ★★ Since bottled and concentrate come from the same sugary soup, Hank sees no reason they have to taste different. — 00:03:17
  • ★★ Hank says concentrating juice is energetically expensive and produces a lot of carbon dioxide, so though concentrate ships more easily, bottled and concentrate have roughly equal carbon footprints. — 00:03:20

00:03:37 — Hank is a concentrate boy: don't be shamed into the more expensive option; sign-off

  • ★★ With less packaging, lower cost and longer shelf life, Hank calls himself a concentrate boy, especially as he mixes it with homemade soda water anyway. — 00:03:38
  • ★★★ Hank's main point: don't let people shame you into buying the more expensive option just because it is more expensive; it isn't better, it's just orange juice, and all bad for you. — 00:03:45

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says Hank's favorite thing about all orange juices being flavored is how much the orange juice industry freaks out when people talk about it; he may get a letter. (playful) — video description
  • ★★ The description says the industry treating 'flavored' as the problem, rather than juice being an inherently unhealthy sugar beverage, is really something. — video description
  • ★★ Asking whether we will ever move beyond this, the description answers: maybe not. (hedged) — video description
  • ★ The description lists sources: a piece on the carbon footprint of concentrate versus bottled juice, and Aaron Carroll on juice. — video description
  • ★★ In a comment Hank says freezing and refrigeration contribute much less than the heat used to concentrate juice; the study finding concentrate and bottled roughly equal covered everything from grove to purchase. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: orange juice

Also: carbon dioxide · carbon footprint · Doritos · Montana · Simply Orange

Only in the description or credits: Aaron Carroll

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